18 dicembre 2013

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TAP informs that, starting from December 16th, will be carried out a survey campaign to analyse, from a geophysical, environmental and geotechnical perspective, the seabed areas involved in the passing of the pipeline. The results of the surveys, authorized by all competent authorities, will integrate TAP's Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, submitted last September 10th to the ministry of Environment.

Lecce – TAP informs that, starting from December 16th, will be carried out a survey campaign to analyse, from a geophysical, environmental and geotechnical perspective, the seabed areas involved in the passing of the pipeline. The results of the surveys, authorized by all competent authorities, will integrate TAP's Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, submitted last September 10th to the ministry of Environment.

The geophysical surveys will start 1 meter from the seashore, and won't interfere with the marine environment. The security zone from the boats carrying out the surveys will be of 100 m, beyond which regular fishing activity is allowed. The surveys will consist of Seismic Refraction (a cable will be laid down the seabed along the route) and Electric Resistivity (a cable will be dragged on the sea surface). In this way, it will be possible to have more detailed data on the geologic structure of the subsoil and to identify possible natural cavities.

The environmental surveys, with ARPA personnel supervising on board, will consist of water and sediment samplings. At the same time, there will be a visual inspection of the seabed along the pipeline route, aiming to assess the marine habitat.

The geotechnical surveys, starting from the second half of January 2014, will consist of under soil sampling, starting from about 50 meters from the shoreline and operating at a depth of 30 m. A specific platform for shallow waters and an additional boat for deeper waters will be used. Insert picture?? The impact on the seabed will be restricted to the sampling spots and the platform stationing points. Any modification to the seabed will be then only temporary and naturally mitigated by the action of the sea currents which will naturally replace the sea bed as it was prior to the samples being taken.

Agenda
The operation start is expected for December 16th 2013, starting from the geophysical surveys and then, in the first days of January, with the environmental surveys. This first series of surveys will last about 25 working days. Regarding the geotechnical activities, the operations will start in the second half of January 2014 and will last about 15 working days. The agenda could change due to possible bad weather conditions interrupting the operations. In this case, TAP will release an additional communication about this closer to the date to ensure that all details are up to date.

Equipment
The geophysical and environmental surveys will feature a 23 m boat (and two smaller boats, locally hired, for near shore operations. The geotechnical surveys will be accomplished with a specific platform in near shore areas, and boats in deeper waters.

TAP is available for additional information at the following email address tapitalia@tap-ag.com.